21 Photos of the Best Experiences at Victoria Falls

21 Photos of the Best Experiences at Victoria Falls

If you’re looking for the very best experiences at Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe, allow me to introduce them with some of my favorite pictures. Photo guide, general information and insider tips for your next trip to Victoria Falls!

The 5 Best Experiences at Victoria Falls

There are so many activities and experiences at Victoria Falls, it was difficult to narrow it down! However, check out this to-do list as you plan your own trip to the Natural World Wonder!

1. The Devil’s Pool Swim

There is only one tour that runs into the actual Devil’s Pool of Victoria Falls – the Livingstone Island Tour. The guides check the water for crocodiles and hippos before leading the tourists in through a safe swim zone.

Quick stop during the walk to where the swim for Devil’s Pool begins.

The tour has never experienced a hippo or crocodile in the actual Devil’s Pool, and they’ve never had any casualties.

Swimming in the Devil’s Pool is relatively safe, as a thick rock creates a barrier before the 100 meter drop.

To get to the pool, you’ll take a motorboat from your hotel (or a nearby hotel), then a short walk to the falls for a brief, shallow swim. The swim happens as a group and only with the guides.

For a kind tip, the guides will take a separate (dry) route with your camera to photograph you at the edge of the pool. It’s totally worth capturing the experience!

2. Adventurous Activities at Victoria Falls

There are so many exciting ways to see Victoria Falls. Consider all of the options:

Micro-lighting over Victoria Falls

White-water rafting at the foot of the falls

Bungee Jumping over Victoria Falls

Helicopter Ride over Victoria Falls

Train dinner taking you to Victoria Falls

Sunset River Cruise to Victoria Falls

Personally, I’ve been bungee jumping, on helicopters and river cruises twice (each), so I opted for a new experience … micro-lighting over Victoria Falls! It was amazing. I could see the falls, hippos, crocodiles and elephants from my flight!

3. Animals Encounters at the Royal Livingstone

The highlight of my experience at Victoria Falls wasn’t just the actual falls, but rather my stay at a safari lodge at Victoria Falls. My partner for the trip, Anantara Hotels hosted me at the Royal Livingstone, Victoria Falls, Zambia.

I’ve been traveling for five years — three as a travel blogger — and I just have never experienced something like this! Monkeys, giraffes, zebras, antelope and hippos all called the Royal Livingstone home!

While you don’t need a tour guide to walk to the falls, we HIGHLY suggest bringing along a nice tip (we did $20 USD for each guide) to have a local guide escort you on a hike from Zambia to Zimbabwe. They know all of the great photo spots, will guide you through back routes and look out for your safety. The guides we met were amazing and their back route hike was absolutely one of the best experiences at Victoria Falls! We can’t recommend them enough.

Just chillin’ en route to the falls.

5. Day Trip to Botswana from Victoria Falls

I was still in a little jet lagged when we headed to Botswana for one of the BEST experiences of my life. To be frank, I almost passed up on it and totally regret the hesitation. You have to book with Bushtracks for a safari river experience.

They took care of everything which made the day trip easy and timely. This is how a day trip to Botswana from Victoria Falls works:

Where is Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls is on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, although it’s also very close to the border of Botswana. This made it easy to do day trips from our hotel at Victoria Falls — and avoid ongoing packing and unpacking throughout the trip. You can enter Victoria Falls from both Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Devil’s Pool is on the Zambia side on Livingstone Island.

Victoria Falls City & Other Things to Do

To get to Victoria Falls via the Zambia side, we flew into Livingstone, where David from Bushtracks (in partnership with our hotel) drove us about ten minutes to the Royal Livingstone Hotel. This hotel was a ten minute drive to Victoria Falls.

The Victoria Falls city (Livingstone), isn’t a big urban city. However, it does offer a lot to do.

In addition to the Devil’s Pool and the adventure activities at Victoria Falls, we suggest the following experiences which we booked through our hotel:

The Rhino Walk: drive to a conservation site for rhinos, walk into their territory and admire wild rhinos from a safe distance.

The Lion Drive: Notice I said drive and not lion walk. Lion Walks and Lion Encounters in Africa can be very controversial with centers that abuse and exploit exotic animals to cash up on the cubs. Through our hotel and Bushtracks, we booked a drive through a conservation center with lions and admired them at a safe respectful distance.

Local Village Tour: Another expedition with Bushtracks and the Royal Livingstone, we drove about ten minutes away from town into a native village, where a person from the town shows you around the village and how people live — however, the people from the village continue to live their every day life and aren’t there just to talk or perform for tourists.

As “human zoos” are another controversial topic in tourism, I’d like to vouch for this experience as a great way to experience a local village. If you’d like to give back to the local culture, the best way to do this is by making purchases from the local craftsmen. They have BEAUTIFUL work. My friend and I each budgeted $100 for art and could have easily spent so much more.

Did someone say safari? En route to the rhino walk.

When in doubt, say yes to a safari! Any and each safari is different and makes for the best experiences at Victoria Falls.

One of our best experiences at Victoria Falls was observing rhinos in their natural habitat.

Lion drive at a conservation center.

How Many Days in Victoria Falls

Depending on your overall trip itinerary, you can spend 48 hours or two weeks at Victoria Falls. Because of our luggage and the tiring transit from Los Angeles to Dubai to Johannesburg to Livingstone, it made the most sense for us to spend a week at the Royal Livingstone and do day trips to Botswana and Zimbabwe from Victoria Falls. This cuts down on the stress and risk of unpacking and repacking every two days.

Because the destination has more than Victoria Falls and Devil’s Pool (i.e. chasing zebras and giraffes at a close distance), I’d do more than the 24 hours. But if that’s the only thing on your bucket list, you easily see it in a long weekend.

Victoria Falls Accommodation

There are two hotels that I experience at Victoria Falls.

The Royal Livingstone Hotel (about ten minute walk from the falls, animals roaming around, royal high tea feel — great for honeymooners, solo travelers and families with older children). The AVANII Hotel (about five minute walk from Victoria Falls, combines business and leisure, larger suites and has a focus on activities for kids).

We stayed at the Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls, an Anantara Hotel through our media partner — Minor Hotels and Resorts. The staff, the food, the animals made our stay at the property one of our BEST experiences at Victoria Falls.

I confidently chose to work with the brand and property because it is a prime example of smart luxury.

Royal Livingstone Highlights:

– Pool overlooking the river – Genuine, kind staff (we felt like family!) – Sundeck for cocktails looking at the Devil’s Pool – Beautiful trees and other wildlife – Each room has a private veranda – Classic white and neutral tones in decor

As I mentioned before, if you cannot arrange to stay at the hotel, I highly recommend booking a dining experience (during the day) to frolic about the property and meet a zebra or two.

Royal Livingstone Hotel at Victoria Falls

AVANII Hotel Highlights:

– Large suites for families with kids – Suites start as low as $200 a night (prices vary across season) – East African inspired art and aesthetic (bright colors, many patterns) – Beautiful trees and other wildlife – BOMA fire pit celebrations – Meeting rooms for business travel – Activities & playground for small children

Victoria Falls Safety

We felt SO much safer in Livingstone and Victoria Falls than we have in other parts of the world. The biggest concerns to your safety will be the harsh sun and regional mosquitos. I address health and safety concerns in the TravelBreak African Safari Packing List for Women and Men.